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Shrinking Violets and Caspar Milquetoasts: Shyness, Power, and Intimacy in the United States, 1950 to 1995, by Patricia A. McDaniel. New York: New York University Press, 2003. 240 pp. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-8147-5677-8. $18.00 paper. ISBN: 0-8147-5678-6.
Patricia McDaniel provides an insightful look at the historical constructions of shyness in Western society. In our current culture, shyness is viewed as a social phobia in much the same way that agoraphobia or any other "irrational" fear would be. Shyness has been medicalized; those diagnosed with "social anxiety disorder" are prescribed drugs such as Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft. According to McDaniel, this has come as a result of a historical process that may have started with positive associations with shyness. As McDaniel traces shyness through heterosexual relationships, work relationships, and same-gender friendships, gender, race, and class come to be significant aspects of her analysis.
With a focus on historical constructions of shyness, McDaniel uses the self-help culture as her data. As it is an important aspect of self-help culture, gender appears to be the most important element of McDaniel's analysis. Throughout Western history, men and women have been treated differently in regard to expectations about shyness. For example, in the 1950s women 'were expected...